Dump-car door and locking means therefor



1,615,792 Jan. 7 A. PBELL DUMP CAR DOOR AND LOCKING MEANS THEREFOR Filed May 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ARGYLE 4MP51.L;

y 2. M4 09/6 I I fl/s I II Jan. 25 1927.

A. CAMPBELL DUMP CAR DOOR AND LOCKING MEANS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2, 1925 m; 15 CAMPBELL Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AaeYLn CAMPBELL, or cIIIcAeo, 'ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR 'ro nn'rnararsn RAILWAY i EQUIPMENT COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, a coarona-rron or ILLINOIS.

Dinar-can noon AND nooxmeluaans 'rnannron.

Application fi led Kay 2,

My invention relates to improvements in I dump car doors and locking means therefor. An object of this invention is to provide a simplified and improved dump door and to V may he closed and locked from the side of the car. v

Furthermore my invention resides in certain other teatures and details of construction such as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed.

in the drawings forming a part of this specification Figure 1 is a transverse sectionat view of a'portion of a dump car of the socalled showing in elevation my inrprovements in connection therewith. Figure '2 is an elevational view of the dump door shown in Figure 1 detached from the 'car'. Figure 3 is a side elevational view of aportionof the car as shown in Fi ure 1. Figure dis .a sectional view taken t rough the door and on a line corresponding substantially to a line 4-4 of Fi re 1. Figure 5 is a fractional sectional view of a por tion oi the door showing the outer locking arran ement and taken on a line corresponding su stantially to a line 55 of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a sectional view taken through the door on a line correspondingsubstantial-- ly to the line 6-6 of Figure 1. Figure 7 is a fractional sectional view taken through I the door on a line corresponding substantially to the line 7-7 of Flgure 1.

' in said drawings, 10 denotes one of the side walls of the car, 11 one of the side stakes, 12 one of the channels employed to make up thegirder center sill of well known form, and 13 alongitudinally extending reinforcing angle member for the side wall 10 of the car. a K 50 As customary in the -type of car, a central transverse y extending ridge is formed 7 as by the ridge sheet 14, it being understood that there are four hoppers in the car, two

1925. Serial No. 27,364.

such hoppers is defined by a sloping hopper sheet 15, a vertical inner side hopper sheet 16, and an outside hopper sheet 17, the latter sloping inwardlytowards the longitudinal center line of the car and having its margin reinforced by a plate 117.-

Each discharge opening, in the t pe of car shown in the drawing, is adapte 7 to be closed by a sheet metal door 18, which is F preferably flanged at its margins so as to provide a top horizontally extending flange 22, and at the free edge of the door the door plate is pressed in the form of a Z as indicated at 23, said flanges 20, 21 and 23 being pressed outwardly in the same eneral direction from the main plane 0 the door, pressed inwardly from t while flange 22 is 7 the main plane of e door. Said door, 18 is pi-votally attached'bysuitable hinge braces 2424: to the brackets 2525 carried by the lower edge out the transversely extendin ridge sheet '14 which is suitably reintorce by means of an angle member 26. The-hinge braces 2l2tmay consist of heavy strap members which extend from the hinge end of the door for a considerable distance-m- 20, inner side flange 2'1, and outer side'fiange wards the free edge thereof. Adjacen the hinge edge of the door, andiin parallelism therewith, a corrugation 27 is formed in the door which serves to reinforce and rigidity the door in adirection at right angles'to the hinge braces 24-24. Extending in the same general direction as the bracesQt-Qt are corrugations 28 and 29, which are formed adj scent the respective side ed es of the door and pressed outwardly from t e main plane of t e door, the corrugations preferably being formed with fiat ortions as indicated at 128 and 129, respectively, for a purpose hereinafter described. Intermediate, said corrugations 28 and 29 another corrugation 30 is termed, which is preferably pressed inwardly or in the opposite direction to the first named oorru ations.

The door is a apted to be maintained in closed position. by means of a bell crank or angular lever A, which ispivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the door, and formed 'with arms otvarying length. Gooperating with the respective arms at the Mid - member A is pivoted adjacent the inner side wall of the hopper, on corrugation 28, by

' means of a bolt 31 the head of which is contained within the corrugation 28, the pivot being disposed near the junction of the arms of the bell crank lever, the arrangement of the pivot being such that the short arm 32 depends substantially vertically toward, and slightly beyond the free edge of the door, whereas the long arm 33 is extended substantially horizontally towards the side of the car and beyond the outer sideedge of the door. Due to the weight of the longer arm 33, the lever is adapted to automatically assume its normal locking position as shown in Figure 3. To lock the door the respective arms of the lever seat behind shoulders 34 and 35 respectively'formed on the members B and C, the lever being displaced from itsnormal position during the door closing operationby the short arm 32 engaging and riding "upon an-an ularly disposed surface 36 formed integrally with the bracket member B, said surface 36 being so formed that the arm 32 will ride mainly on a beveled projection 37 near the lower end of the surface 36 until suchtime as the arm 32passes the shoulder 34, and engages with thesaid shoulder 34 at the extreme end thereof, where it is flared slightly as indicated at 38; The surface 36 is of triangular form and the vertex of said triangle indicated at 39 is set back from the lower beveled portion 37, and therefore the arm 32 is always free to engage mainly with the beveled portion 37 Adjacent the outer wall of the hopper the arm 33 of the member ,A engages behind the shoulder 35 of the bracket member 0. Due

to the variation in the length of the respective arms, it is evident that the inner end of the bar will always be-the first to engage, and the length of lever which is afforded by the arm 33 enables the exercise of considerable force by an operator in closing the inner end of the door from the side of the car. It will be noted that the bracket member 0 lies at an angle from the vertical due to the inclination of the side hopper wall toward the center of the car and in order to eliminate unnecessary friction during the o ening movement of the door that portion 0? the bracket which forms the shoulder 35 is inclined or offset as shown at 135 rela--.

tively to the main body of the bracket and to the inclined hopper sheet, and is thus brought substantially tangent to an arc-'described by the lever at the commencement of the unlocking movement of the bar. The bell cranklever A is spaced outwardly from the plane of the door by the -corrugations 28 and 29, which function as runways for the respective arms to slide upon.- In order to stabilize the lever the same is mounted on a Z-shapedbracket 40 secured to corrugation 28 thereby providing for the placing of pivot 31 in double shear. The arm 32 which is extended outwardly beyond the free edge of the door and engages with the Z-shaped flange 23, is maintained against outward movement by a bracket 41 secured to the door. Adjacent the side edge of the door ,the arm 33 is adapted to be guided by a member 42, secured to the door by rivets disposed below the bar and is also secured above the said bar by a bolt 43 which also serves as 'a fulcrum for a locking cam 44, which is adapted to be swung in the path of the arm 33 to lock the same in position. The fact that the outer flange 22, at the side edge of the door, is turned upwardly and away from the door locking mechanism permits free access of the operator .to the locking arra'ngement, and also provides for an an efficient door seal between the'door and the side wall 17 of the hopper. In order to permit the door flange 22 to lie between the hopper side wall 17 and .the bracket C the latter is offset as indicated at 45. i

The arrangement for locking the door is thus very simple as the operator stands at the side of the car and pushes the door to closed position, a push pole pocket 46 being provided on the door to receive the end of a pole, said pocket being secured to the front marginal reinforcement 23 of the door as at 47, and to the main door plate as at 48. p

In operation, in order to close the door, the operator may stand at the side of the car and kick or push the door to closed posi -tion. As the door approaches the closed sary, the operator from a position at theside of the car, may bear down on the outer end of the bar and wedge the door to a fully closed position. In releasing the load in the car the cam 44 is moved out of engagement with the arm 33, and the said arm lifted upwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, when the respective arms of the lever A will be released from their corresponding brackets and the door will open.

Th arrangement of having m'ovable door locking means adapted to directly engage the reinforcing corrugation on the door is of great advantage as it is conducive to strength w th light welght, and. results in economy through the elimination of parts.

I am' awarethat it is old in the art to use corrugations for reinforcing car doors, but

. hitherto where such a system of door reinforcing has been used it has been necessary to attachheavy'beams or "auxiliary stiffening members to the door in order to ult1- mately transmit; the weight of the door and lading to the car structure, and the adyantage secured by the saving in weight derived by the use of the corrugations has thus largely been nullified by the additional parts introduced, and therefore direct engagement between a door locking member and a corrugation in the door, such as I have provided, results in great "economy. It will be noted that the door retaining lever A engages only the outer ccrrugations'28 and 29, and the'pu'rpose of this arrangement s to ensure that the "load on the entire door will be concentrated on the lever member A adjacent the respective shouldered brackets B and C. In the design of door, as

shown, the margins at the h'nge'end of the door andthe free edge of the :door, which are respectively reinforced by corrugation 27, and marginal Z-shaped rigidifymq member 23, receive the load carried on the central part of the door through the medium of the door hinge braces 24-24 and the central corrugation 30, and transmit the load to the corrugations 28 and 29, and thereby to the brackets B and C, the corrugation 30 being turned in the opposite direction from the'side corrugations 28 and 29, for the purpose of preventing the door buckling, and ensuring the transmission of the load on the lever A to its ends, the arrangement permitting the use of a lighter locking bar since if the load were, transmitted to the central position thereof atmuch stronger and heavier bar would be necessary to resist the excessivebending strain thus imparted to it.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention it is understood that the same is merely illus-. trative and I contemplate all constructions which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

. 1 In adump car, the combination with a swinging door; of an angular lever pivotally mounted, on said door and having the arms thereof extended beyond the door; and

means on the car adapted to engage the respective ends of the, said lever to maintain the door in closed position;

2. In a dump car, the combination witha swinging door having. a reinforcement adjacent its free edge; of an angular lever pivotally mounted on said door, one arm of the said lever engaging with the reinforcement adjacent the freeedge of the door and. the other arm of the lever extending beyond the side edge of the door; and means on the car structure co-operable with the respective ,tia lly in the plane of the door, said lever arms of the lever to maintain the door in closed position.

3. In a railway car, the combination with a dumping door; of a locking bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the door; means on the car co-operable with the respective ends of the bar to maintain the said door in locked position; and means formed inte rally with the door adapted to space the bar from the door, said means constituting runways for the bar.

4. In a railway car, the combination with a dumping door; of alocking'lever pivotally mounted on the door to swing substanbeing extended beyond the door; a corrugation pressed in the door and extending in a plane substantially perpendicular to the said lever, said corrugation operating to space the lever from the door; and means on the car structure adapted to engage the projecting end of the bar to lock the door in closed reinforcement extending along the free edge of the door; corrugations extending between the said respective reinforcements, said corrugations being disposed adjacent the side edges of the door and pressed outwardly beyond the plane of the hinge beams; a pivotally mounted beam member on the door,

- said member being adapted to bear on the last named corrugations; and means carried by the car and cooperable with the respective ends of the beam member to maintain the door in locked position.

6. In a railway car, the combination with a'dumping door; of a locking bar pivotally mounted on the door, said bar .being spaced outwardly from the plane of the door; corrugated reinforcing means formed in the door plate adapted to maintain the bar in. spaced relation to the door, said corrugated means beingdisposed adjacent the side edges of the door; other corrugated reinforcing means pressed in the door plate in the direction su stantially' perpendicular to said first named corrugated means; and means on the car structure'adapted to engage the-res ctiveends of the bar and maintain the oor in closed position. a

7. In a dump car, the combination with a dump door; of a series of corrugations formed in the door and extending from the hinged edge of the door towards the free edge thereof; a locking bar pivotally mounted on one of said corrugations, saijdbar being extended across the plane of another of said corrugations and engageable therewith; and means on the car adapted to engage the vSi) .carried by the car adjacent the door cooperable with the said locking means for locking the door in closed positlon.

. 9. In a dumplcar, the combination with a dump door; of a reinforcement formed integrally with the door along the free edge thereof a lever pivotally mounted on the door and extending beyond the free edge of the door, said lever being adapted to engage the reinforcement along the free edge of the door; and means on the car structure cooperable with the said lever to maintain the door in closed position.

10. In a dump car, the combination; with a dump door; 0 a reinforcement-of Z shape extending adjacent the free edge of the door; a lever pivotally mounted on the door and extending beyond the free edge of the door and in engagement with the aforesaid Z- shaped reinforcement; and means on the car structure co-operable with said, lever to maintain the door in closed position.

11. In a dump car, the combination with a dumping door; of a bar pivotally mounted on said door, said bar extending beyond the edges'of the door; embossments formed in the door plate, said embossments being adapted to space the bar from the main plane of the door; and means on the car structure co-op'erable with the projecting ends of the bar to lock the door in closed position. i

12. In adump car, the combination with a dumping door, said door having an u turned side marginal flange; a'bar pivotal y mounted on the door to swing in the main plane of the door;-a shouldered bracket secured to the car side adjacent the side edge of the door, said bracket having a portion thereof spaced outwardly from the car side to permit 'the flange of the door to lie between the 1 said bracket and the car side when the door' is in closed position, said shoulder on the bracket being adapted to engage with the said bar to lock the door in closed position.

13. In a railway car, the combination with the center sill and side wall of the car; of a ho per extending from the center 'sill to side we lot the car, said 'hopper including a transversely extending door hinged adjacent its upper edge on an axis extending transverselyof the car; and means for locking said door adjac'entthe said center sill and at the side ofthe car, said means including an angular lever pivotally mpunted on the door, and brackets co-operable therewith,

one of said brackets being mounted adjacent the center sill of the car and the other tolcok the bel of said brackets 14. In a railway cal;i the combination with.

the center sill and si e wall of the car; of a hopper extendin transversel of the car, said hopper being efined by 2. lb 1y extending sloping hopper sheet, inner and outer side walls, and a swin ing door extending onan axis transversely of the car said outer wall sloping downwardly and inwardly from the vertical towards the longitudinal center of the car, a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on the door, said bell crank lever having arms of different lengths, the longer of said arms extending outwardly eyond the sloping outer wall and the shorter ofsaid arms being co-operable with the free edge of the door and extended outwardly beyond the same; and a shouldered brack-' said short arm of the lever'to lock the door of the car, aninner side wall, an outer side wall and a swinging door hinged on an axis extending transversely of the car, said hopper having the outer'side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly from the vertical towards the longitudinal center of the car; a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said door, said bell crank lever havin arms of different lengths, the longer of sai arms being extended outwardly towards the side edge of the door adjacent the side wall of the car and the'shorter of saidarms extended ngitudinaltowards the .free edge of, the door; a shouldered bracket on the car structure cooperating with the shorter of said arms for locking the door in closed osition; and alocking member actin on Icrank lever in position when the door is closed. 1

16. In a dum car, the combination with a hinged door aving corrugations extending from the hinged end towards the free "edge thereof; of movable door supporting engage said cor- I means adapted to directl rugations to support the oor.

I 17. In a dump car, the combination with a hinged, door having rigidifying means including a rigidifying corrugation formed therein; of a movable door supporting member adapted to engage the corrugation on the door to support the door in closed position, said supporting means being ada ted to engage the said corrugation interme late the ends thereof.

18. In a dump car, the combination with e longer of said arms flat portion; and movable door supporting means co-acting with said flat portion of the embossment.

19. In a railway car, the combinatiomwith the center sill and side wall of the car; of a hopper extending transversely of the car, said hopper being defined by a longitudinally extending sloping hopper sheet, inner and outer side walls, and a swinging door extending on an axis transversely of the car;

said" outer wall sloping downwardly and inwardly from the vertical towards the longitudinal center of the car; a lever pivotally mounted on the door and having an end extended beyond the sloping side wall; and a bracket secured to the sloping side wall, with the body portion thereof disposed substan tially in parallelism with the said side wall, said bracket having a shoulder formed thereon with which the projecting end vof the lever is adapted to engage, said shouldered ortion being ofiset with respect to the main ody portionof the bracket to dispose it ments being disposed adjacent the side wall of the car, and other of said locking elements being disposed inwardly of said side walls; and an angular member on the other of said means, said member being arranged to initially engage the inwardly disposed locking elements on said other means'to lock the door when closed, continued movement of said locking member causing the same to engage the outer 0t said locking elements.

In witness that I claim the fore oing I have hereunto subscribed my name t is 29th day of April, 1925. Y

ARGYLE CAMPBELL, 

